I never said the relationship stuff was done well in SR. But the general public consensus after SR came out was too much relationship/love focus and not enough action for a summer blockbuster.

I remember the studio promising for years after that for the next Superman film to be the complete opposite of SR's focus and go 'Wrath of Khan' and action-driven with the material.

Doesn't surprise me that they've pulled so much from Flyby for this movie, including the Kryptonian General, Black Zero, his army, the Kryptonian wars etc. I think the Kryptonian stuff will take central focus. His central conflict seems to be his humanity versus his Kryptonian ancestry.

The big issues with the romance story in SR were three fold:

1) Richard White was a condemned character from the very inception of his place in the storyline. He has the same problem as the New 52/DCnU character John Carrol- he's an alternate love interest for Lois who's meant to be taken seriously, but only as an alternate love interest-if he's a heel, then why the heck is Lois going out with him? And if he's a nice guy, that's cool and all, but he'll never contribute anything to the plot besides being in the way of most of the audience's OTP, Lois and Clark.

2) No Clark and Lois tension. The biggest advantage Smallville and Lois and Clark have over SR is that the majority of interaction and flirtation occurs between Lois and Clark -which enables the audience to ignore any unfortunate implications about Superman spending time with Lois while also allowing Clark to be a more fully realized character as opposed to a deceptive caricature. Even the Donner films made it clear that Clark was more than just an annoying coworker, but SR embraced the masquerade harder than granite statue of Teddy Roosevelt, and as a result, you wanted the Lois and Clark scenes to get done really quickly.

3) The entire deadbeat dad arc. Because they made Superman a deadbeat dad and implied that Lois had no memory of sleeping with Superman/Clark, thus probably making her think it was rape.I loved figuring out who the kid was, I loved the execution of his appearance, but I really don't think that Superman should ever have reason to be compared to Zeus-horny god who loves-em-and-leaves-em. Superman was lacking a pretty big part of that -man title, coming off more like some adolescent stalker/rapist, and it really just flatout killed any desire I had to watch anymore of the romance.

Don't see Lois thought process going any other way than 'Gee, my kid's got Superman's powers. Funny, I don't recall sleeping with Superman..........'

It was well established that Jason was frail and sickly. So it was quite sensible for Lois to assume he was normal/mortal. The first manifestation of a “superpower” was, therefore, the reason for her surprise. All indications are that Jason’s true paternity was never a mystery to Lois.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Excelsior.

That reminds me, exactly which pieces of the plots of the first two Superman Returns ignored and which pieces it cherry picked is a chore to figure out.

Clearly, SR contained certain details which were vaguely consistent with events in SII. For example, the fact that Lois and Supes had sex at least once. But consistency doesn’t imply strict continuity. Without a more explicit reference (say, some dialogue about a silver bed at the FOS) there’s no explicit connection between SR and SII. Thus, we can’t assume that because a romantic tryst is common to both movies, the amnesia kiss must be too.

A) it looks like Lois will be interacting directly with Superman and most likely Clark Kent as well in this movie, and that
B) the old joke is she must be blind if she can't tell one is the other.

So, what do you guys think of this theory:

She knows. From the moment Clark walks in with his glasses on, she knows he's Superman. But instead of going for the scoop of her life in exposing his secret, she respects him and his mission enough to refrain from revealing his identity. Or, alternatively, she repeatedly attempts to privately confirm her suspicions ala her M.O. in the Silver Age, but still restrains from threatening his life.

That seems like big change up to the usual manner of usiness but without also encouraging huge rewrites of characterization, provided we see her as her own hero as much as a reporter.

__________________“There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal."

I honestly don't know why it's such a big deal that the audience can't "play along" anymore.Reeve proved that if you act the part of Clark well enough,there's no reason it can't be a plausable disguise.

I mean in the "real world" how often do you see a guy fly in the air and let bullets bounce off his chest?And yet said character can't fool people into believing he's someone else?

A) it looks like Lois will be interacting directly with Superman and most likely Clark Kent as well in this movie, and that
B) the old joke is she must be blind if she can't tell one is the other.

So, what do you guys think of this theory:

She knows. From the moment Clark walks in with his glasses on, she knows he's Superman. But instead of going for the scoop of her life in exposing his secret, she respects him and his mission enough to refrain from revealing his identity. Or, alternatively, she repeatedly attempts to privately confirm her suspicions ala her M.O. in the Silver Age, but still restrains from threatening his life.

That seems like big change up to the usual manner of usiness but without also encouraging huge rewrites of characterization, provided we see her as her own hero as much as a reporter.

I honestly wouldn't be surprised if she helps him come up with the disguise and is instrumental in getting him a role at the Planet. Both her and Perry White could be in on his secret identity. It'd be a new dynamic but it might circumvent the 'old joke' you mention. If the main people he interacts with as Clark are in on the secret it means no need for the 'play along' and wouldn't require the audience to suspend their disbelief.

That could be an interesting take on the dynamic but it might feel too much like Smallville towards its end and it might under undermine the theme of Superman's alienation which seems to be present in the Comic-Con footage.

you know what, if someone (one of the mods) is just going to edit my post to change it to "their" standards, do me a favor and just delete the whole post, dont edit it to make me sound like a moron stating random stuff since you deleted most of what I originally wrote.